ABSOLUTE INSANITY: A forbidden bond-Chapter 108: Assistant

Chapter 108: Assistant
Chapter 108
Katya pov
Nonna finally lowered her hand from her face and looked over at Antonio with the most exhausted grandmother expression I had ever seen.
"I preferred him in a coma," she announced flatly. Surprisingly Mr Antonio nodded instantly. "Same."
Romeo scoffed. Loudly. "Then you should’ve taken your chance and killed me right there. Saved everyone the trouble of me waking up at all."
The air in the room vanished for me as I turned to stone.
Because that sentence,
that sentence hit me like a blade slipped between my ribs.
You should’ve killed me then.
My lungs locked because I had thought that.
I had tried that.
I had stood over him, hands ready, imagining how the world would be better if he never opened his eyes again.
My fingers curled against my skirt, nails digging into my palms. My heart hammered so violently I swore it would shake the room.
Did he know?
Had he somehow known?
Was that why he looked at me like that earlier?
Like he recognized something in me?
My mouth went dry.
Nonna smacked her hand against his stretced legs. "Dio mio, Romeo! How can you say such things?"
Romeo rolled his eyes like he was the victim here Like he was tired of being alive.
"I’m saying you complain too damn much for someone who begged the universe to keep me breathing."
"Be grateful I begged anything, ragazzo sciocco!" Nonna snapped.
Romeo scoffed again. Antonio muttered something about needing a drink.
And me?
I silently shrank farther back, pressing so close to the wall I almost melted through it. My spine stiffened, my throat tight, my stomach sinking all the way to the floor.
If he ever found out...
If he ever realized...
He’d kill me.
No hesitation.
He wouldn’t even blink.
I stared at the back of his head, fear choking me. This...
This was the man Nonna thought would not harm me?
This was the man she promised was only "difficult"?
I watched Romeo glare at his own grandmother, snap at Antonio, tuck a gun under his pillow like it was a stuffed toy.
Nonna sighed, for the hundredth time — not annoyed, not offended... just weary. The kind of weary that came from loving someone who made it very, very hard.
Her gaze drifted toward Antonio’s arm, which was wrapped in a sling.
"Antonio," she said softly, "What are you still doing here? You just had to take Romeo to his room. Your hand is still injured.You should be resting."
Mr. Antonio blinked, as if he’d forgotten he had a body at all. "Nonna, I’m fine."
"You are not fine," she countered calmly. "And so is Romeo, who is practically immobile."
Romeo scoff from his corner but nonna paid him no time as she continued. "And the doctor said he needs assistance till he fully recovered" Her tone stayed gentle, matter-of-fact.
"Normally, you are mostly his hands and legs in this situation but you too are hurt. So tell me—" she lifted a brow, "—who exactly is supposed to help him?"I saw her eyes slide sideways.
Straight toward me.
My stomach dropped so fast I swore it hit the floor before my feet did.
No. No no no.
She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
Because I understood that look. That... The look of someone who had just found the perfect solution at the worst possible time.
"Nonna..." I whispered, panic threading my voice before she even spoke.
She smiled kindly — so kindly it made my fear worse. "Bambina," she said, as if announcing something obvious. Every eyes turned to me.
Romeo’s eyes sharpened "No," he simply said.
One word. Flat. Final.
And that’s exactly what I wanted him to say but it seems the old woman doesn’t want that too because she kept going.
"You cannot even walk properly yet," Nonna replied in that same calm, reasonable tone, as though she were discussing weather.
"And Antonio cannot be expected to injure himself further."
"I said no," Romeo repeated, sharper this time, more dangerous but Nonna didn’t flinch. "You need assistance."
"I don’t want hers."
"I didn’t ask what you want," she said gently.
My pulse pounded in my ears. My fingers went numb around the hem of my shirt. Romeo’s stare pinned me like a knife through paper — silent, unforgiving.
His jaw flexed once, twice before it relaxed and I saw something between a smirk or an annoyed expression.
Nonna turned her head back fully toward me, voice softening. "You are capable, mia cara," she assured. "I trust you."
Trust me? To help him? i would rather jump off a cliff than help tht demon.
Romeo’s stare didn’t move from my face. It felt like being pressed under a boot — even though he couldn’t stand, even though he could barely shift without pain.
His eyes alone were enough to crush oxygen out of my chest.
"Oh, don’t look at her like that," Nonna scolded lightly. "She will help you only with the basics. Until you can manage on your own."
Mr Antonio looked between us, clearly exhausted but his growing dislike for me is clear. "Nonna, i can do some things—"
"With one hand? And with him in this state? No. Absolutely not." Nonna cuts him off. I swallowed, inching my weight toward the door. Maybe if I slowly—slowly—slid out now, no one would notice until I was already—
BANG!
I screamed—at least, I think I did. I couldn’t even hear myself. My hands flew over my ears as I dropped into a crouch on instinct, heart slamming against my ribs hard enough to bruise.
The sharp smell of gunpowder filled the room. My vision flashed white at the edges.
Nonna gasped. Antonio cursed. My knees hit the floor.
I was so shaken by the sound of a gun bullet exploding just above my head. My frightened eyes moved towards the sound it was fired from and I wished I had some kind of spiritual powers or something because the culprit, Romeo sat exactly where he had been, calm and unbothered with the gun he’d hidden under his pillow now dangling lazily from his fingers, thin smoke curling from the barrel.
He tilted his head at me, expression unreadable.
"Well," he murmured, "I had to see if my lovely new assistant can handle a gunshot without fainting."
My breath stuttered out of me in a sharp choke.
Lovely... assistant?
Nonna’s eyes went wide. Wide with shock and fury but she was too stunned to even form a word.
Antonio looked like he aged ten years on the spot.
And Romeo?
Romeo just watched me.
Cool. Quiet. Like he hadn’t just fired a weapon inches above my skull for a test. My fingers trembled against the floor. My pulse thrashed painfully in my throat.
He lifted the gun slightly, inspecting the barrel as if checking the craftsmanship. "Not bad," he said. "You didn’t pass out."
His cold eyes flicked to me again.
"Yet."
††
Thoughts?